Learning to Love
by jadedolphin
Summary: Raphael doesn't believe in the possibility of love; past experiences taught him never to trust himself with a woman.  When he meets a young girl who has blocked herself off from friendship or love can the two tortured souls help one another?
1. Chapter 1

_This fiction takes place several months after _Exodus_ in the cannon, but everything beyond that point is AU. Leo's brothers and Master Splinter are able to help him through his anger issues after the showdown with the Shredder, so he does not have to go to visit the Ancient One in Japan. The Foot clan does not attack the lair, so the guys are still living in the Elentian lair. Karai does still hate the guys for what happened to her father, and engages them in battle occasionally, but she doesn't actively seek them out (yet)._

_Also, FYI the main character's name in this story is actually "Aniya", but she is normally called "Niya" by her friends and family, and will always be called that by the narrator in this story. She is only called by her full name by certain characters; so don't be confused if that name comes up in the dialogue every once in a while, it is still the same character._

**Disclaimer: **I don't own the turtles but I do own the OCs and the plot.

**Chapter 1: Confrontation and Contemplation**

The seasons changed quickly in the bustling city of Manhattan. Summer had barely ended and as the mild weather of autumn began to sink in, the people in the city were starting to prepare for the rapidly approaching series of holidays looming ahead. Pumpkins and nightmarish costumes filled the windows of many stores and alongside them various Christmas paraphernalia was being set up by eager salespersons. For one tiny family of four, however, life remained relatively routine and monotonous all year round.

At the end of a long, dark alley was a small, desolate, yet homey looking makeshift shelter. It was really only an 8x10 foot awning stretched between two buildings; these served as a roof and three walls. The front was covered with a thick tarp and was reinforced with boards, which served as a front wall; an opening was cleverly cut in the center to make a door which was sealed with various materials to make it as airtight as possible. The interior was cramped but quite ingeniously designed. A series of crates alongside of the brick wall on the left hand side of the room served dually as a table and a cabinet to hold the scarce amount of chipped and cracked crockery and a beautiful white tablecloth embroidered with tiny blue flowers. In the back of the room a thin curtain made from several different fabrics, which seemed to come from old clothing, was hung on a set of hooks that were drilled into the ceiling. Behind the curtain two young children were sleeping peacefully under several blankets. Near the table another teenage girl sat on a small pile of blankets; shivering slightly she glanced toward the center of the room at the stove, a small fire contained within a thin pail with holes cut out of it, this was the room's only source of heat and light. The glow of it cast shadows onto the far wall; she watched them darkly as they danced eerily in front of her. She sat lost in thought until the unmistakable sounds of someone walking up the alleyway jolted her out of her stupor. The girl turned sharply toward the door and as she did her long mahogany hair caught the light and shone like streaks of crimson fire falling around her shoulders. The door swung open and a small smile of relief crossed the child's face as she shifted on the blankets to make room for her younger sister.

"Oh Ny, it's just you. I was getting nervous for a second." The smaller girl padded over to the blanket, and settled down tilting her thin face up at her sister looking tired and impatient.

"Well who else would it have been, Aijah? We're the only ones who even come near this alley."

"I know but you never know…" Aijah seemed slightly embarrassed but recovered almost immediately. "I was just being careful."

Niya had stopped listening to her big sister and was now staring toward the curtain where her baby sisters Mikayla and Jordan were still fast asleep. Aijah, realizing that Niya was no longer paying attention to her, got up and walked the short five foot distance to the kitchen, which was no more than another assortment of crates topped with a pot of water and a couple of dishes of food. She picked up a plate off of the box and lifted a cloth off of it revealing a mean mixture of foods including a piece of bread, half of an apple, and a slice of ham.

"I'm sure you haven't eaten since lunch, so I saved you some dinner." Aijah placed the plate in front of her sister and watched her expectantly. Niya simply looked at the food but did not attempt to pick up the plate.

"Thanks but I'm not hungry, you should have given this to them." She said quietly as she gestured toward the two sleeping children. Aijah sighed and flopped down again; she had known this would happen just as it did every night Niya came home from work. For the past one and a half years the routine had been the same, Niya would go to work on Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturday while Aijah stayed home to care for their younger sisters; on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday they would switch. While both girls worked extremely hard to provide for their tiny family, Niya really threw herself into it. Every work day she woke up at 4 am to get to the small pharmacy owned by David Jamison by 6am, while there she spent the day stocking shelves, sweeping and mopping the floors, and doing whatever other odd jobs that her boss could think of for her. Mr. Jamison was a kind and sympathetic man who took pity on the desperate undersized thirteen year old that came to him a year before begging for a job. She spent the day from 6am to 9pm at the pharmacy, and often spent several hours wandering the streets alone. Needless to say, Aijah was often worried about the health and safety of her younger sister; however, while being completely cavalier over her own wellbeing, Niya was obsessed over that of Mikayla and Jordan. That obsession caused Niya to often give up anything over the basic amount of food and comfort to her baby sisters and that was the cause of many arguments between her and Aijah.

"Did you even actually eat lunch today?" Aijah asked her sister wearily. Niya just glared at her irritated.

"Not that it's actually any of your business, but yes I did. So can we please drop the subject I'm tired." To emphasize her point, she slumped down on the cushions and turned her back to the other girl. All was quiet for a few minutes, and Niya allowed her eyes to close, only for them to snap back open again as she was forcefully flipped back over and staring into Aijah's determined dark brown eyes. A furious and slightly haunted expression came over Aniya's face as she jerked backwards out of her older sister's grip, but it passed quickly and was replaced with one of annoyed stoicism. Aijah, for her part, stared at her hands horrified as she instantly realized her mistake in manhandling the younger child; seeing that Niya obviously didn't want to address that issue at the moment, she attempted to smooth over the awkward silence that stretched between them by jumping into a stern lecture.

"No Aniya, I will not drop the subject." She said heatedly. "I am sick and tired of your complacent attitude about your own health and safety. Since, I can't trust that you've actually eaten lunch at work because I'm not there with you, and I know I definitely haven't seen you eat at home, you need to eat your dinner, and then you can go to bed.

"And who are you to tell me what I should or shouldn't do? I told you before that I wasn't hungry, I'm a big girl now and I can make those decisions for myself, thank you very much." At those words Niya, not in the mood for an argument, got up and walked back out of the house with Aijah following closely behind her. "Excuse me, but I do _not _need an escort to go outside!"

"Yeah well I'm not finished with you just yet…" protested Aijah.

"The hell you aren't," Niya interjected quickly, "I'm not listening to this crap for a _third_ time this week."

"Well apparently you need to hear it again since your skull seems to be too thick for the message to have penetrated before. I just don't understand you, I mean you are one of the smartest people I know but when it comes to things that may or may not be good for you, you're as thick as a brick." She sighed and tried to look imploringly into Niya's eyes. "Please, you're my little sister and I just want what's best for you."

"No, what you want is to be in control of me. There's a big difference there Aij."

"Is it so awful for me to want you to listen to me-"

"I do listen!" Niya snapped indignantly. "But I have no obligation to do whatever you tell me to, either."

"I never said you did!" Aijah yelled back, but huffed when her sister only raised an incredulous eyebrow. "Alright fine, I did, but I still only have your best interests at heart. I don't understand why it's so painful for you to humor me every once in a while." Niya didn't respond to that, so Aijah continued.

"Look little sister, I know that the last few years haven't been easy on any of us, but especially on you. It's alright for you to ask for help if you need it, I'm here and available to talk with you whenever you want; you don't have to roam around the city at night all night long to try and avoid your problems. I've done some reading, and I know that it's pretty common for people that have gone through things like you have in the past to stop eating properly. I understand why you can't really take care of yourself properly, but that's what I'm here for and I won't allow you to continue like you are. So for your own good I insist that you stop arguing and fighting against me and do what you're told, you may hate me for it now but it really is for your own good. Now, are we clear on all of that Aniya Cheyenne Warling?" Aijah's voice became increasingly authoritative as she continued the speech, and she finally finished and regarded her sister with an expectant glare.

Niya stared at her older sister with an expression of complete disgust for a full minute before finally speaking.

"My God Aijah, do you even listen to any of the crap that comes spewing out of your mouth? Don't throw out a bunch of psychobabble at me about being anorexic or depressed or some BS like that. This isn't even about the food, or how late I stay out at night, or any other stupid excuse that you try and use to have these fights with me every other night. This is about you and your compulsory need to have everything and everyone in your control. Why don't you deflate your ego for five minutes and actually open up your eyes? I am perfectly fine and healthy, and I got this way and am capable of staying this way all on my own. You've never given a crap about me before, so it's a little too late to start playing the concerned older sister, I don't need you now!

Aijah looked like she had just been smacked across the face, and her heart clenched painfully at her sister's words, but she decided to ignore that for the time being and attempted to pacify Niya, regretting that she had let the argument get so far out of hand. "Listen, I didn't mean to make you angry I'm just worried about you." Niya remained silent, and stared emotionlessly into her sister's face. "I know we've had our differences in the past, but couldn't we just put that behind us and start over…" she broke off and looked imploringly at Niya. "I just want to be able to take care of you; it's my job as the oldest to take charge of this family."

Niya finally let her eyes drop and turned away while saying quietly, "My mother died almost seven years ago, and I don't need another one." With that, she plopped down at the foot of the wall and refused to say another word.

Knowing that her sister was one of few words and quite stubborn, Aijah went back inside without trying to persuade Niya to speak to her anymore. Niya remained in her spot on the ground for another twenty minutes before feeling compelled to move. She hated losing her temper the way she just had; Niya really did love her sister, her family meant everything to her, but she never really knew whether Aijah really was worried about her or if she just wanted to be a control-freak as usual. With a heavy sigh Niya picked up a small backpack that she had carried outside with her and pulled out a notebook no bigger than her hand and a little pocket flashlight. The pages, like those in at least fifty other notebooks of various shapes and sizes that she had collected over time, were filled with her emotions from the past eight years; writing was the only way she could express many of those feelings since she sometimes had trouble with verbal communication beyond anger and aggression.

The golden tint of her caramel colored skin was illuminated and her hand seemed to glitter in the light as she flipped slowly through the pages, each filled to bursting with her neat, intricate handwriting, a tiny worn photograph fluttered out onto the ground. She picked it up deftly, and as she gazed down at it a lump of so many unshed tears rose into her throat. There was her family as it had been nine years before, just days before her life had been torn completely apart. Standing towards the back of the picture were her mother and father holding hands, and right in front of the happy couple was six year old Aijah who was grinning mischievously at the camera with her had clamped firmly on the shoulder of young Niya who was clutching a beaming baby Mikayla. Niya's eyes lingered bitterly on her own picture for a while; the small child was laughing merrily. _What the heck was so damn funny?_ She thought icily, she couldn't think of any reason to have been so happy back then, and the jovial face of the little girl only seemed to mock her foul mood. _Maybe back then I didn't really need a reason to laugh, I was just happy._

Sighing, she placed the photograph back in her notebook and stared up at the stars twinkling merrily in the night sky. Sometimes Niya wondered what her life would be like in the future, so much of her consciousness was focused on the day to day struggles that it was hard to contemplate anything too long term; however, sometimes she couldn't help but wonder whether she and her sisters would ever get the chance to lead normal happy lives. Would they be able to grow up in a house and pursue a real career, not the meager jobs that she and Aijah currently held, or would they ever be able to get married and have children of their own. This last thought that crept unbidden into her mind nearly made Niya laugh, but as it was she only managed to smirk bitterly. Maybe if they could get their current living situation under control and build the other aspects of their lives, marriage and starting a family would be possible for her sisters at least, but for Niya… At only 14 years of age, Niya had all but completely closed herself off to the prospect of love; love required one to trust another person completely something that she already knew was impossible. '_The only one you can trust in your life is yourself and your family, and a lot of the time you can't trust them either._' She thought with a bitter laugh.

Feelings of pain, anger, betrayal, and fear filled her heart, and nearly overwhelmed her but instead of allowing herself to be overcome; Niya forced herself to write out her emotions and effectively locked them away in the pages of her journal. Finally, she finished and looked up into the night sky once again; she allowed her exhausted mind and body pull her into the comforting recesses of sleep.

**LtL**

Had Niya been more awake at the time, she may have been seen the large green and red blur that had streaked across the gap between the two buildings that made up the alleyway.

Raphael had been running for hours stopping every once in a while to keep some punks from stirring up trouble in the city. Another nightmare had driven him out of the lair. Lately, he seemed unable to spend any more time underground with his family, unable to keep pretending like everything was fine and that he wasn't constantly plagued by feelings of self – hatred and loneliness. His brothers wouldn't understand his inner turmoil, and he didn't particularly want them to; he was beyond help or redemption and he didn't want or deserve their sympathy. Out on the streets, he felt better, freer. Out here he could let go of his emotions and more safely transfer his pain onto someone else. Out here, his uncontrollable rage could actually do some good, could save an innocent person's life. So here he was, looking for some crime to thwart in order to distract himself from his own anguish.

His normal head – bustin partner had been whisked away on a romantic vacation with his now – steady girlfriend, April O'Neil. _'Lucky bastard'_ Raph thought of his best friend, Casey Jones.

Raph finally stopped to rest on the roof of one of his and Casey's favorite hangout spots; he closed his eyes enjoying the feel of the light breeze on his face, the sound of the gentle fluttering of his mask tails over his shoulder calming him. Now he would ever admit it, but Raph was _slightly_ jealous of Casey and his ability to have such an open and burdenless relationship with April; not that he personally had feelings for April of course, she was like an older sister to him and that was it, but he couldn't help wishing that there was a way for him and his brothers to have what Casey and April had.

He and his brothers had accepted a long time ago that there would never be any chance for real love for them; none of them really spent that much fantasizing about it, but sometimes they had to wonder if their reclusive existence was all that there was to look forward to in life. Sure being a ninja and living in the shadows was fine now while they were still teenagers, but to think that 20 – 30 years from now they would still have nothing left for them but that same lifestyle, and without anyone to share it with or to carry on their legacy was pretty depressing.

Raph shook his head violently and jumped up annoyed; he knew that even if a woman were able to look past their outward appearance and learn to love them that he would find it next to impossible to trust himself with another the way required when in a relationship. He had already been down that road once, foolishly and blindly falling in love and it nearly destroyed him. '_Love is nothing more than a storybook fantasy for suckers and saps.' _

Raph felt his insides begin to twist and the familiar sensation of fire building up in his chest, growing and spreading until he started to feel dizzy and his vision began to dim. With effort he managed to push his depressing thoughts away again, locking them back into the deepest recesses of his mind. With a frustrated growl, he renewed his search for some criminal that he could beat senseless until he was able to sink back into his comfortable world of numb oblivion; thinking about things that couldn't be changed was pointless and he refused to take the cowardly way out and give into his ever growing urge to end his life over it. He had promised himself never to give to walk that dark road again, but sometimes the memories were simply too much to bear.

_**Alright so here it is, the very long awaited beginning to my Learning to Love series; I hope you liked it so far. I'm really excited to finally be getting this underway. **_

_**The next chapter features more of the guys and will be up soon, but just remember, more reviews equals faster updates ;)**_


	2. Chapter 2

_**Hi again. The guys get to make their debut in this chapter. I decided to go ahead and put this and chapter 3 up, but if anyone would like me to continue this particular story, please review so that I can see the level of interest in it! I realize that this is starting out pretty slowly, but I promise that the action will pick up very soon!**_

_**I would like to thank all of my awesome betas for this story: Raphfreak, Simone Robinson, and Raph's No1 Girl. You girls are great, and have helped me immensely so far. Thanks a million!**_

**Disclaimer: **I don't have any claim on the turtles, but the OC's belong to me!

**Chapter 2: Introductions and Invitations**

Aijah awoke gradually to the shrill beeping of the alarm on her watch and looked around groggily, and squinting from the small amount of light that made its way through the cracks in the boards forming the front wall. She grimaced as the previous night's argument came to the forefront of her mind.

"Damn, Ny's gonna be a lotta fun to deal with today, it's a good thing I'm leaving." She sighed gustily as she pulled one of her blankets off of the pile on the floor that served as her bed and wrapped it tightly around her shoulders. She got up, careful not to disturb her siblings, and walked quietly to one of the pails that they kept filled with water and put some of it on the stove. While waiting for the water to heat she sat and picked up a photograph that she found herself looking at quite frequently as of late.

"Oh Ny…" Aijah whispered as she sadly traced a pattern around her sister's face. "I would give anything to see you smile like this again." She turned an annoyed glare at her own smirking face and shook her head. Only now did she realize what a jewel she'd had in her baby sister. Now that she seemed to have lost her forever. It would be optimistic to state that the two oldest of the Warling sister's had ever been best friends, or even remotely close, but there had been at least _some_ good days. Sometimes when Aijah allowed herself the time to daydream, she would go back to those days when her parents were alive, and her most stressful moments consisted of deciding between Barbie dolls and basketball. She remembered being able to sleep in to whatever time she wanted in the morning, and to stay in her PJs all day long, watching cartoons and playing with her sister.

Unfortunately, that also made Aijah remember her distain and irritation when Niya used to follow her everywhere she went, and the way that she bullied and teased her baby sister into submission. Aijah remembered a day, when she took her bossiness and cavalier attitude towards Niya too far, and changed the course of both of their lives forever.

Many of these memories, both the good and the bad, were lost to Niya, along with the majority of her childhood; however, she still remembered enough to be very wary of trusting her older sister too much. Aijah had been trying hard for years now to gain her forgiveness and trust, perhaps a little _too _hard; but at any rate, it seemed like her efforts were just too little and too late.

Wiping a bit of stray moisture from her eyes, Aijah quickly put the photograph back under her pillow, where she kept it hidden from the rest of the family, and continued getting ready for work.

Twenty minutes later, she was walking out of the door. She stopped in her tracks, not entirely surprised, but admittedly disappointed to see Niya hunched on the ground near the door, looking like she had only just awoken.

"You didn't actually sleep out here did you?" Aijah's voice was disapproving and Niya rolled her eyes wearily as she shook of the last vestiges of sleep.

"Not like you can do anything about it if I did so get over it."

"Ny…"

"Drop it" Niya snapped irritably as she stood up and turned away. Aijah opened her mouth as if to argue back, but seemed to think better of it and closed it again, dropping her eyes to the ground.

"Right well, I'm heading to work then. There's hot water on the stove and the kids should be waking up soon."

"Thanks." Niya turned back, and steadily eyed her sister who shifted uncomfortably with her focus still on the ground. "I'll see you later, and… you be careful as well." She then turned and walked into the house without another word. Aijah smiled slightly at the unexpected display of concern from her immediately younger sister as she walked from the alley; maybe there was hope for the two of them yet.

**LtL**

"Come on you two you gotta keep up with me!" Aijah called over her should to her two youngest sisters who were lagging behind as the group shuffled down the street. It was late on Sunday afternoon and Niya was at home making dinner while Aijah took the girls out to get some fresh air and to fetch water. The sun was beginning to set, making the older girl nervous and causing her to speed up, her sisters were beginning to find it hard to keep up with her longer strides however, and they had to scurry to stay beside her. Aijah hated being outside at night when all of the gangs members, psychopaths, and murders seemed to be out full force. She sighed in relief when as she looked ahead and spotted the abandoned hydrant where they had been managing to siphon water from for the past year. The area around the hydrant was nearly abandoned, and it was almost never used because there weren't enough people around it to actually start a fire. She strode over and quickly loosened the bolt on the side of the hydrant enough for a slow but steady trickle of water to slide from the valve and placed one of the buckets they were carrying underneath it. As the bucket filled, Aijah kept one eye on it and the other was constantly roving around her surroundings for anything out of the ordinary. A seemingly strained silence surrounded the group as they worked together to fill the buckets, until…

"Are you sure this is sanitary?" The sudden voice startled Aijah and she turned with slight annoyance to Mikayla who seemed oblivious to her sister's irritation. "I was reading one of the books that Niya gave me, and it said that all sorts of bugs and germs and other nasty stuff could be in the water that we drink!"

"Yes that's true Kayla," Aijah answered with forced patience, "And that's why we boil all of our water before we use it." The younger child seemed satisfied with the reply and the girls lapsed back into silence.

"Is it legal?" Aijah heaved a sigh and rolled her eyes.

"No, not entirely legal, but we're desperate and no one's around here to care anyways. Trust Mikayla to always want to follow the rules, and damn the circumstances. It was Mikayla's strong moral compass in combination with her artist's ability to pay close attention to detail that made her both endearing and _infuriating. _

This whole time, Jordan just stood back and listened to her older sisters as they filled the buckets while she held the empty ones and looked around nervously. The seven year old could not shake the feeling that she and her sisters were being watched and it was freaking her out immensely. She froze when something seemed to shift in the shadows at the corner of her vision.

"Guys, I think someone's out here!" She screeched, as she ran over and latched onto Mikayla's arm.

"What! What are you talking about? Where!" Aijah looked around wildly, but saw nothing except the dumpsters lining the wall. She let out the breath that she hadn't been aware of holding. "Calm down, there's nothing here Jordan. You probably just saw a rat or something." She went back to finish gathering the water and left Mikayla to pry herself away from Jordan's grasp.

"It's okay Jordan, we're almost done now, and we'll be home before you know it." Mikayla soothed her sister, and held her hand reassuringly until it was time to head back. The girls stayed in a tight group as they walked; Jordan still seemed uneasy and she clung to Mikayla's back as they walked, but they made it halfway home without incident.

Suddenly a group of guys appeared seemingly from nowhere and surrounded the girls, all the while laughing like a pack of maniacal hyenas. All of them were of various builds and heights, but they had the same rough and torn clothing with similar tattoos of purple dragons adorning the bodies. The ringleader, who was tall and muscular and had a dragon tattoo that stretched from the side of his forehead down to his neck, strode confidently toward the sisters.

"Well well, what do we have here?" He asked the group mockingly, which caused them to laugh harder while tightening their circle around the three. "Three little babies all alone in da dark. Where's ya mommy girls?"

"Keep away from us you creeps!" Aijah growled softly while trying to shield the younger girls from the thug; she did her best to look calm, but inside she was a trembling mess.

"Aww don't worry that pretty little heada yers, babe, I don't want those two. They're a little too… _fresh_ for my liking." He paused and nodded towards two of the gang members who flanked the girls. Aijah whipped around at the sudden squeals of her sisters and found that they had both been grabbed and were held struggling in the well – muscled arms of two of the men. Enraged, she turned back to the leader.

"What the hell! Let go of them, what did they ever do to you?" She snarled menacingly.

"Nothin, I jus' wanted 'em outta the way for a bit. Yer the one I want to focus on!" Before she could register what was happening, Aijah found herself backed up against the brick wall as the Neanderthal advanced on her.

"No, what are you doing?" she screeched. Using one hand to brace himself against the wall, he placed the other on her chest and forced her to the wall, he then bent down so that his face was right next to hers. "Let go of me!"

"Shhh. Just relax." He whispered before bringing out his pierced tongue and running it along her ear. She screamed and tried to squirm free, which only made the group laugh harder but they stopped abruptly as she was able to maneuver her leg enough to plant her knee right in the guys groin. He grunted and doubled over, freeing her, but before she could move she was forcefully grabbed by one of the others. Aijah struggled fruitlessly against the hands restraining her, but still found herself hurling insults at all of them. Leader, as she began to call him in her thoughts, finally managed to straighten up and glared furiously at her, warning her captors with a look that clearly said '_Don't do anything, this bitch is mine_.'

"You're sick you know that? Just a sick, cowardly, bastard that has nothing better to do with his time than to assault defenseless girls." Aijah spat at him while held tightly against the wall. Now logic would have told the girl that she should shut up and not make the situation any worse when she _knew_ that she didn't have the strength to back up her insults, and if logic didn't tell her then the scowl on Leader's face should have. Unfortunately for her, Aijah didn't always listen to logic, and she plowed recklessly on. "Seriously, have you taken a look in a mirror lately? You've got this tiny little pea – brained head sitting on a body that must be pumped so full of steroids that you could probably run a drugstore through your asshole, and this big ass tattoo down half your face, as if you're trying to make your head look bigger than it really is." By now Leader's face was contorted with rage and his eyes were shooting fire, but Aijah still didn't know when to quit.

"To be honest though dude, it ain't working; it makes me wonder if that's the only thing on your body that's too tiny to look natural. Maybe that's the reason you're doing all of this now, you're trying to _compensate_ for the fact that no woman would _willingly_ screw with someone so lacking down under!" By this time all of the surrounding gang members had stopped laughing and were staring slack – jawed at their leader, waiting to see the reaction from him. Leader glared menacingly at Aijah for a moment before a sadistic smirk stretched across his face; he moved in close to her again, this time sure that she couldn't kick him, and grabbed her by the neck.

"Oh is that what I'm doing?" he hissed. "Well let me show you just how well I can 'compensate', when I shove it down yer friggin throat!" Aijah choked, her eyes widened fearfully and darted to her two wide eyed little sisters who were about to have to watch this humiliation. '_Oh shit,' _she though too late '_Mom always did say that this mouth of mine was going to get me into serious trouble one day, I wonder if she saw this happening.' _The thug placed his free hand on her chest again and was just about to rip her shirt off when a shuriken embedded itself in the arm that was holding Aijah in a choke hold, forcing him to let go.

"You know, I could have sworn that I heard the lady ask them to let her go!" A voice floated in from the shadows.

"Ya know yer right Leo; these damn Purple Dragons always were a bunch of hard – headed bastards, and Dragonface ova here is one a da worse!"

Aijah was gasping for breath on the ground, where she had slid down after Dragonface had dropped her. The spots were just beginning to clear from her eyes when she turned her head to where the voices had come from, and she felt for sure that she must be hallucinating.

Four figures seemed to materialize out of the shadows and began to advance threateningly on the gang members still surrounding her, but the shocking thing was that they were _green_.

"Well if it ain't the _freaks _come out to play." Dragonface sneered menacingly as he pulled a thick chain from his belt with his good hand. "Well boys let's not disappoint them!"

Suddenly, the mass of dragons launched themselves toward the turtles with murder in their eyes. The four ninjas broke their formation and met their attackers full on. One of them, wearing a red mask, headed straight for Dragonface and knocked him away from Aijah, who flattened herself against the wall to stay out of the way. Another, in an orange mask, backflipped straight over the three guys heading his way and landed directly behind the men that were still holding the terrified Mikayla and Jordan captive, grabbed their heads, and knocked them together with enough force to knock the both of them out cold.

"You two looked like you could use a hand." He said cheerily as he scooped the two surprised children into his arms. He ducked through the fighting in order to reach the other side of the alleyway. "Special delivery!" he quipped as he deposited the girls into the arms of their older sister. The three girls just stared at him slack jawed, which didn't seem to faze him as he simply pushed them all gently against the wall and told them that they would be safe there. Then he turned around and quickly became reabsorbed in the fight.

"So ya like pickin on little girls? Huh _Lizard_face?" The turtle in red was pummeling the man mercilessly as he talked, not even giving him an opportunity to defend himself. "How do ya like dealin wit someone who can actually fight back?" He threw Dragonface against the wall opposite from where the girls were and held him by the neck in a similar fashion to how Aijah had previously been pinned. Dragonface choked and spluttered helplessly, but the red one showed no mercy. One of the other turtles, who happened to be within earshot, performed a neatly executed split kick to swiftly deal with the men in his vicinity and walked up behind his enraged cohort and placed a calming hand on his shoulder.

"Let him go Raph, you've made your point." The other turtle growled furiously and jerked his shoulder from his companion's grasp, but he still removed his hand from Dragonface's throat and allowed him to crumple unceremoniously to the ground in an unconscious bloody heap before turning to find someone else to teach a lesson to. His companion just shook his head and sighed before following the turtle's lead.

Aijah and the younger girls stood frozen in shock as they watched the rescue from their place by the wall, and poor Aijah actually started to question her sanity for a few minutes. When the last of the thugs had been knocked out and tossed aside or had run away, the four terrapins turned to their charges, and the one with the blue mask stepped forward cautiously. He eyed Aijah anxiously for a few seconds, scanning for injuries, as she watched him warily.

"Are you alright, he didn't hurt you did he?" Aijah continued to stare for a minute, barely registering that she had been asked a question. A nervous look flitted across the turtle's face. '_Aww shell' _he thought wearily, _'they're gonna start screaming, and attract more witnesses. We probably just should have left after we saved them instead of trying to check on them.' _He was so caught up in his agonized musings that he didn't even notice the girl's forward motion until she was right in front of him.

"I don't know who or _what _you guys are but thank you, _thank you_ so much for saving me. I thought that was it for me for sure!" Before the turtle could so much as open his mouth to respond, he was interrupted by Mikayla, who for the last several minutes, was so excited that she was practically vibrating in her spot behind her oldest sister. The child suddenly popped up in front of Aijah and offered a huge smile to her rescuers.

"You guys are so _cool_!" She exclaimed waving her arms around for emphasis. "Are those costumes or are you really turtles? Cuz if they are costumes, they're _really_ good; did you make 'em yourselves? Can I try one on too? I can design clothes, or at least I really like to draw them; but I want to try to make something neat like those! What are your names? How did you learn how to fight like that? Can you do any other moves?" Can you show us more? I wanna learn how to do stuff like that too!" This entire time the child was _literally_ bouncing around the group in circles, forcing them to constantly shift around to keep her in focus. Her hazel eyes were full of childlike wonder and excitement, and they were so bright that they seemed to actually shine out of her copper-toned face.

Everyone's eyes widened a bit in apprehension when she took a deep breath and looked as if she would continue the verbal assault before Aijah reached out and clapped a hand over her mouth, pulling the child to her chest to still the incessant bouncing.

"_Okay _Sweetie, that's _enough_" Aijah hissed to her sister through clenched teeth, before looking back up at the turtles and rolling her eyes a little. "…Well, um… sorry about that. How's that for an icebreaker huh?" She laughed a little nervously, and held out her hand. "My name's Aijah, by the way." The blue-masked turtle stepped forward and shook her hand a little hesitantly.

"Uh nice to meet you. My name's Leonardo." He indicated the turtle to his left. "These are my brothers, Raphael…" Raph nodded silently as he continued to observe the girls with an unreadable expression on his face. "…Donatello and Michelangelo."

"Hi I'm Mikayla." The child piped up again, having escaped from her sister's hold, and sporting a large grin. She pulled Jordan, who had latched onto the back of her shirt, around to stand next to her. "And this is Jordan. She's my baby sister, and she thinks you guys were great too, but she's shy so she won't say so, herself." Jordan simply offered a small albeit embarrassed smile of her own but opted against saying anything. "So are you really turtles? Mikayla repeated her question from earlier.

The brother's exchanged a quick glance, and nodded to each other as they saw no harm in revealing what was a somewhat obvious truth. "Yeah we are, it's kind of a long story, but I have to admit that I'm a little surprised. Most people don't react so well to seeing a bunch of giant, talking turtles." Donatello spoke up this time addressing them with a slightly uneasy look. Aijah countered with a disarming smirk.

"Are you kidding me, all I know is that you four saved me from getting _way _too up close and personal with those gangbanging psychopaths, I don't really think anything else matters." She began shifting from side to side a little uncomfortably. "The only thing that I'm not sure of is how we can ever repay you."

"No payments necessary Duddette, we work for free. Heck the lack of fainting, screaming, or running away was a refreshing novelty at any rate." Mikayla giggled at Mikey, and batted her little eyelashes at him, causing the turtle to blush and the others to chuckle. Suddenly though, Mikayla looked thoughtful for a moment before regaining her exuberant expression from earlier.

"Hey maybe you guys could come home with us, my big sister's making dinner and she's a really, really good cook; she'll wanna thank you too. Oh, and you can see my drawings. Please _please_ say you'll come."

The guys looked stricken at this unexpected request and nervously eyed each other before Leo took it upon himself to speak up, dropping down on one knee in order to be on Mikayla's eyelevel. "Uh, that's very sweet of you to offer Mikayla, but I don't think your parents or sister would be very understanding of what we are." He looked confused when the little girl's smile only brightened.

"Well you don't have to worry about our parents cuz we don't have any, but Niya's really cool. Please come, we never get to have guests, especially any as awesome as you guys are. _Pretty please_?" She stuck out her bottom lip and her already large hazel eyes seemed to grow even more intense as she hit them with a "puppy dog pout" that blew Mikey's straight out of the water.

'_Dang' _Mike thought as he felt himself melting under the impossibly cute little girl's stare _'Is that what I look like all the time? No wonder my bros can't resist me.' _He turned a look of his own on his eldest brother who seemed to be struggling with the knowledge that Master Splinter wouldn't be happy with the brother's willful exposure to even more humans, and with the near irresistible pull of that the three children seemed to have on his heart. Raphael and Donatello were also dealing with conflicting emotions, but found that Mikayla's charm was too much. In the end the decision to go was rather reluctant but still unanimous.

Several minutes later the four brothers found themselves following the girls back to their home, with a quick detour to refill the water buckets that had been upset during the altercation with the Dragons. The entire time Mikayla skipped merrily around the turtles asking rapidfire questions and barely pausing for breath or even for the answers. She also began telling them, in great detail, about her artwork, with promises to show them some of her sketches. Leo caught Aijah's apologetic grin, and broke away to walk alongside her.

"Um are you sure that you're alright with this? Just say the word and my brothers and I can go."

"Don't be silly, I'm glad you're coming, I'm just sorry that my bratty little sister practically coerced you all into it. The kid can be very persuasive; my other sister says that Kayla could sweet talk a fish right out of the ocean." The two chuckled quietly as the group reached the end of the alley where the girl's lived. Leo, Raph, Mike, and Don all had to keep their expressions in check upon seeing the dilapidated conditions that the youngsters were living in. Aijah looked a little embarrassed.

"Well this is it, I know it's not much but we call it home." As usual, Mike was the one to break the tension that had built up.

"Dude, we have no room to talk, we live in the sewers. At least here ya don't have ta hold your breath." Everyone chuckled at that and Aijah unlatched the door and pushed it open.

"It's about time you guys showed back up, I was getting worr…" Niya trailed off as she looked up from preparing dinner to see four extra… guests walk in behind her sisters. "Um am I missing something here?" Sensing that her little sister was about to blow a major gasket, Aijah stepped in and held up her hands in a placating gesture.

"Niya, these are some new friends of ours; they kinda helped us out of a tough spot tonight, in fact, I probably wouldn't be here right now if not for them." Aijah then went on to give the abridged version of the nights events while her sister listened sporting an indiscernible expression. "…And as a way of saying 'thank you,' our dear baby sister, _Mikayla_, thought it would be a good idea to invite them home." Aijah made sure to stress Mikayla's involvement in the turtle's accompaniment, knowing that Niya was much less likely to get upset at the child.

Feeling much more comfortable being back home, Jordan was content to observe the exchange between her sisters, and found herself summarily annoyed when she recognized the ploy to shift the focus and blame off of Aijah and onto Mikayla. She rolled her eyes as she sat down in her usual place in the corner of the room. "Coward" she muttered under her breath; Aijah hadn't been in the house ten minutes, and was already being an ass. Donatello heard her and glanced over at the child curiously; their eyes met for only an instant before Jordan dropped her eyes to the floor, her blush barely visible on her ebony skin.

After listening to the story, Niya turned her attention to the four terrapins, who had still yet to move from their place at the front door. After scrutinizing them for a moment, she surprised everyone in the room with a somewhat stiff but polite bow in the turtles' direction. "Nice to meet you." She said coolly, the hard glinting her eyes, however, was unabating. She waited until all of them had returned the bow before glancing back at the food that she had been preparing and surprised everyone yet again by abruptly stalking past the group and out of the door without another word.

**Alright the action will start picking up more in chapter 3, which will be much longer than this one, so keep an eye out. **

**Also, although I have the entire story planned out already, this is still a work in progress and will eventually become a series so any suggestions from the readers are more than welcome. Just send me any ideas you have in a review and I'll see if I can incorporate it into either this or one of the other upcoming fics.**


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